Why UFOs? Part 4: They Know That We Know That They Know

This is Part 4 of a series of blog posts called "Why UFOs?" intended to examine through the combined lens of narrative and rhetoric, just why I've always been fascinated with the UFO phenomenon despite any conclusive evidence.

"They're here! And they love strawberry ice cream!"

So Brad told me early on a Saturday morning in 1988. We were boarding a school bus to head for a marching band contest. The night before, NBC aired a...unique documentary. For reasons likely related to our house only having one TV, I had to tape (on a VCR!!) the program, but Brad caught it live.

It was called UFO Cover Up-Live! The "documentary" was a live panel discussion of UFO witnesses and investigators, discussing sighting flaps such as the (at the time) recent Gulf Breeze encounters, as well as the abduction phenomenon (both of which you may read more about in Part 3). The whole thing was hosted by Mike Farrell. Yes, that guy from M*A*S*H. In fact, his emcee demeanor was most reminiscent of his dry-witted signature role, B.J. Hunnicutt.

That alone is remarkable (I can just imagine Farrell's agent pitching this thing to him. "Look, things have been dry since M*A*S*H and this has been the best gig in a while.") What is most germane to this series though, is that it marked yet another change in my perception of the UFO narrative. Note the "cover up" in UFO Cover Up-Live!

Blacked out in silhouette and voices altered electronically, two men appeared via remote on the program. They were referred to only by the code-names, "Falcon" and "Condor." They were purported to be operatives deep with the intelligence community. And they dropped a whole lot of plot twists for me in the UFO narrative. Such as:

-For (what I believe, anyway) the first time, I learned that just after World War II, a UFO was said to have crashed outside a town named Roswell in New Mexico. The U.S. military recovered the wreckage of this spacecraft as well as aliens, both living and dead.

-In the wake of this incident, President Truman convened an intra-governmental group that would make policy regarding extraterrestrials. It would be called Majestic-12 and be headquartered out of the U.S. Naval Observatory.

Image from: https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/818083/Majestic-12-scientists-experiment-aliens-Roswell-UFO-DIA-leaked-document

-Project Blue Book, discussed in the first post in this series, was basically a PR effort by the Air Force, meant to dismiss UFO activity. Any truly interesting sightings were filtered to Majestic-12.

-Eventually, the aliens met with representatives of Majestic-12 and brokered a deal in four parts: 1) We won't interfere with anything the aliens do on Earth. 2) The aliens won't interfere with how our society runs. 3) The aliens may abduct people. 4) In return, the aliens must give us technology.

-Alien operations on Earth are based out of a secret location called Area 51 in the Nevada desert.

-Our military sometimes test flies alien craft for our own purposes. Sometimes that goes wrong, such as with the Cash-Landrum Incident.

-Three alien beings have been guests of the U.S. government over time. In 1988, "Condor" stated that one being was visiting.

-We have learned much about these aliens. They come from a planet in the Zeta Reticulai star system. While their minds are beyond ours, their bodies are much simpler. They are vegetarians and enjoy strawberry ice cream as a snack. Their favorite music is ancient Tibetan chant.

-The alien visiting in 1988 had a crystal. Through this crystal, the being could show images not only of its home planet, but of various eras of Earth history. There was an artist's rendition of this alien standing with this crystal in what (kinda) looked the White House. The alien was wearing a suit and tie (!)

-Not only were aliens guests of our government, but a few of our own people went to Zeta Reticulai as part of an exchange program. 


Wow. There is just so much going on here. Not only did this single, and admittedly quite cheesy, live program change how I saw the UFO narrative, it included so much of what are now considered fixtures of UFO lore in popular culture. Most of those points named by "Falcon" and "Condor" found their way into The X-Files and any number of other media. Brad and I also decided that the program provided an evaluation tool for one determine whether or not they are being abducted by aliens. Just by a carton of Neapolitan ice cream. Check the freezer. If one morning you find the strawberry section has been scooped out, you may be in trouble.

In all seriousness, this (at the time) newfound dimension to the alien narrative just added another layer of mystery. By "mystery", I mean more in the "spy thriller" sense. As the story goes, our government is fully aware of all the extraterrestrial goings on. All that fear I felt at the prospect of an alien abduction? Yeah, our government, our ostensible guardians, knows all about these occurrences and just doesn't care. Worse than that perhaps, they're profiting off of it.

A rhetorical tone that had already turned dark just got a few shades darker. Who can one trust? As one of my favorite shows would say five years after 1988: "Trust No One."

Scholars have been studying conspiracy theory for quite a while now. I noticed that while working on research for my Dulce book, which I will eventually get to after my Saint Joe book is done (believe me, after reliving the trauma of my college closing, getting back to fake alien conspiracies will be most welcome.) What these researchers have learned is that despite the hyperbolic rhetoric from conspiracy proponents, calling them "crazy" is both insulting and inaccurate. In truth, these are people who feel socially and politically marginalized. They have been made to feel, through various experiences, that they don't matter. A conspiracy, formulated and maintained by a shadowy and powerful group of individuals, is easier to get one's head around than the complete randomness of life if you're looking for reasons why things aren't working out for you. That's where notions such as "the Federal Reserve is keeping you poor" and other, more dangerous rhetoric comes from.

Thinking back, I am also struck by the heuristic element of this alteration in UFO rhetoric. Earlier, I used the phrase "spy thriller." The introduction of the conspiracy changes the exigency of the UFO "text." It's no longer a mystery of "what are they?" It is an urgency of "they are all in it against us." Always check your back. Keep your tinfoil hat on tight. Only through "awareness" will we defeat the conspiracy against us. Yes, so much of that still, sadly, present today.

Is it any wonder that 1988 and onward sees a change in the shape UFOs sighted? In 1988, the government announces it had been clandestinely testing black, batwing-shaped aircraft that would be invisible to radar. Conspiracy theorists had conjectured about these aircraft for years and lo and behold, there they were. Later, the "black triangles" become common in Ufology. Observations of more secret aircraft or a shit in perception?

Image from: https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5061734/big-black-triangle-ufo-above-munibung-hill/


Obviously, there isn't a shred of truly verifiable evidence for anything "Condor" or "Falcon" said on the documentary. In fact, I believe Falcon was later identified as Richard Doty, an operative for Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Doty has a long history of spreading UFO disinformation and even destroying a life (see Greg Bishop's Project Beta.) Then again, a conspiracy theory need not have truth in order to flourish...or rather, it needs just enough truth. That, at the time, made UFOs all the more fascinating...and scary...to me.

Next time, we'll take a look at when I realized that the notion of "UFO" has been around for a very very long time...


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